Examples are located here: https://dipitylitmag.substack.com/s/music-waves

These are similar to our writer interviews but different from our digital and print magazine issues. These spotlights are not for spoken word, please see other submission opportunities and categories such as our podcasts. Do note all musicians, bands, and artists who submit to this are eligible to be placed in a future issue of Dipity Literary Magazine and you'll be contacted possibly about this or any other calls.  Attach your answers in a Word.doc. or PDF and attach photos separately.  You'll also be potentially eligible for our yearly dipity. Symphonic Challenge where poets listen to a song and create a new poem inspired by one of the featured artist's songs.

We welcome publication and interview Q&A features through our Substack which goes out to our e-mail subscribers. 

You must answer ALL of the following questions below in order to be potentially considered and featured on dipity's Substack. A few sentences at least within 5-8 or a few brief paragraphs will suffice for the quick Q&A. Share as much as you'd like! Be sure to check out past examples under our Music Waves Dipity Lit Mag Substack section. Occasionally, do note that we add or rotate out a few new questions for fun!

1. What is your name? Where are you located currently? and Where are you originally from?
2. What is the backstory behind your artist or band name or what does the name mean to you or signify? (Feel free to skip this if it's your real first or last name)
3. How did you begin your journey into the world of music? and How long have you been in the music industry?
4. What inspires you as an artist or where do you draw inspiration from to create your music? or Give us some insight into your creative process if you'd like to share too.
5. What's your all-time favorite song you've released? Why is it your fave song?
6. What's an upcoming project or which event(s) are you excited about? You're also welcome to share information about your latest release(s), tours, a music video in the works, shows, etc.
7. We love to read and get inspired by lyrics. Share the title of a song and its lyrics of one of your favorite songs you've either written or released. What does this song mean to you? {Optional to answer why you wrote it or allow us to interpret its meaning). If it's instrumental then you could share what inspired it e.g. a chapter in a book, or a specific memory (share as much as you're comfortable with).
8. What are your thoughts about the world of poetry? Are there any poets you're fans of to date or have any favorite poetry books or specific poems? Do you write poetry? or Have you written poetry? (Feel free to just answer the first one here or one or more). If you write poetry, you're totally welcome to share a poem of yours too, or a poem of yours that you revamped into a song.

       9. [ Choose ONE of the TWO for fun]  a. In a few sentences within 5-8 at least share one fun/interesting fact about yourself that your listeners may not know about you or your band. It could be a hobby or art business outside of music industry for example or something pertaining to being self-taught with a particular instrument or a challenge you overcame e.g. leaving a 9-to-5 job in another field to pursue your passion. OR b. You can just share one book that you recommend others in the community give a read (provide the author's name and title) AND briefly your thoughts on the book (it does NOT have to be a poetry book but certainly could be).  

       10. What was the last song you listened to or music video you watched (excluding your own music that you recommend others give a listen to)? [Provide the song and artist name or grab a link to it for us — we'll typically pick out a YouTube link if possible].  

        11. Lastly, who are some of your other favorite artists and musicians that you listen to? or would like to give a shout-out to?

        12. Please attach at least 3 to 6 photos we can share and credit the photographer(s). If there's more than one photographer list an identifying element i.e. nature photos by name, clothing details, etc. 

      13. What is your website or share any social media handles? Do you have a Substack URL? Share the platforms where others can find your work, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, etc. Links to your work.

      14.  If accepted, we'll ask for confirmation of a few more details such as a third-person introduction  (feel free to provide this in advance at the end of your document file). Thanks so much for submitting! If you run into any technical issues feel free to contact us at the bottom of our website's staff page form.

              MEOW!  You must submit previously unpublished poetry for our upcoming print issue. 

• Write up to 3 poems BUT they must be cat-themed or feline-inspired, for instance. it could be a poem about your cat, or if you don't own a cat — a poem about a cat object i.e. a cat keychain, a cat museum Egyptian sculpture or abstract meow painting, cat graffiti art on a wall, or a group of street cats that you photographed. 
• Title or nickname each poem. 
• Each poem should have a brief backstory paragraph on a separate page about 5-8 sentences.
• Each poem should have a few photos that you've taken yourself to choose from in the event we select it for print issues, online, or both. The photos should NOT include you in them as we only ask for profile photos after acceptance. 
• Please do not put any identifying information inside your document or file name.
   

We are only selecting 11 poems for our sub-section so it'll close quick if we hit our caps, but remember from time to time we select poems for the online tank and then may inform you about print selection if accepted. We'll determine if it'll go into online, print, or both if accepted. Contributors receive a private heavily discounted link to purchase the print issue and can share it with fam and friends and the issue will be available to read digitally online until the next release. We are no longer able to make first-time subs free over just our print calls so please follow our guidelines carefully. Take some time to scan our most recent issue in the READ section of our site -- issue no. 4 is a good example. 

If you're a photographer and are interested in donating photos to us or becoming a contributing photographer and have any that may fit an upcoming theme you can reach out to us via the contact form at the bottom of our staff page. You can also hop into our Discord or chat channel.
 

For each dipity print issue nowadays we look for one serendipity-inspired poem. It is how we conclude each issue. Keep in mind our current themes as well for existing issue calls in terms of your word choices. Submit 1 previously unpublished poem that highlights that word or feelings tied to it. The poem should be titled creatively and doesn't necessarily have to be titled Serendipity. Please create a unique title for it. We tend to choose the selected poem for the issue towards the end of our sub-acceptance caps, but review time varies. We'd prefer the poem to highlight the theme for our issue which is currently cats.

Submit only one spoken word poem at a time. Our founder is no longer hosting episodes because we want to hear others more, so we are starting NEW video and audio submissions at dipity! Please bare with us as we're just starting the new video format option, but audio is still accepted too. If you haven't yet, listen to the Hummingbird Blink podcast on Spotify we've got over 100 episodes, but not all have poet spotlight interviews and we have just recently started Moon Milk which format is changing. We're going to try this on both podcasts to focus primarily on others poets voices. The podcasts are 100% free to listen to also. We recommend listening to some of our past interview episodes to get an idea of what we're looking for introduction-wise such as episodes no. 131, 129, 127, 126, 125, 124,113, 112, 111, 108, 107, 105 but remember your sub won't be in an interview format. Record yourself on your phone in video portrait mode or use your PC's built-in cam, the long horizontal sideways way not vertical or we may not be able to use your submission. Video [Optional] most poets use the Voice Memo app on their phone to record just audio-based submissions.

2. Say hi, state your name at least, and say Welcome to the  [just the name of the podcast you're submitting to] podcast.  The Hummingbird Blink: Nectar Poetry podcast.  An introduction of some kind doesn't need to be exact.

3. State for example "I'll be reading my poem" [the title of the poem] pause a few secs and then read the poem. ONLY these community podcasts and bonus shares sections allow previously published poems.

4. After the poem we want you to state why you wrote it briefly or the story of it to you in terms of meaning (OPTIONAL). 

5. You're totally welcome to share where others can grab more of your work, and upcoming publications or where to follow you on social media. Feel free to discuss what prompted you to start your poetry journey or why you love poetry too. Share fun facts or any information about yourself only as much as you're comfortable with. 

6. At the end of your recording please share your favorite song + artist in existence for others or share your favorite movie. You can state a thank you for listening or closing message too. 

Please appropriately credit any sources of inspiration too in your audio recording after reading.

7.  The recording should be no more than a maximum of up to or within 3 to 15 minutes and ONE POEM of any length. The poem can be previously published for our podcast calls. Please state where else your work if applicable was previously published, the year etc. if possible or page number if its from one of your poetry publications.

OR if you don't prefer video, then we recommend submitting only audio files following the same instructions

You are permitted to skip the backstory or behind the poem, but should still end your recording stating your favorite song and the artist/band or musician in existence for fun. Or if you can't choose a fave song or artist you can state one of your favorite movies or TV Shows in existence. Additionally, you may share a fave poetry collection that you love as well, and remember to share the author's name (spell out any names via individual letters) and include its publication year. Again a concluding thank for listening message is preferred for your audio or video submission.

Do note music will not be on these individual read episodes going forwards because we would like to distribute these beyond Spotify and out to Apple etc. However, we may add a visual video clip similar to our online features tank to accompany audio-only-based reads. Video can only be seen on Spotify at this time and the audio on Apple and elsewhere.

We welcome publication and interview Q&A first-person publication features through our Substack subscribers. 

You must answer ALL of the following questions in order to be potentially considered and featured on dipity's Substack. A few sentences within 5-8 will suffice for the Q&A. We like to include some fun questions.

1. What is your pen name or author name?
2. Where are you located in the world?
3. Submit ONE unpublished poem OR just ONE short story 1-2.5 pages for consideration.  Do not submit both. We want to see previously unpublished poems, but you may share only a previously published short or flash fiction piece letting us know where else it appeared. Please only share as much as you're comfortable with publicly sharing through our Substack newsletter if accepted. Poems should be left-aligned.
4. Submit the backstory of that poem or short story within at least within 5-8 sentences. 
5. When did you begin writing? or What or who sparked and inspired your writing journey? 5-8 sentences
6. Where can others find more of your work or what are some of your fave publications - please provide at least a few links? Max of 3-4.
7. What advice would you give aspiring poets, authors, or fellow writers in the community?
8. What else do you do outside of the writing or poetry community? or What else are you working on or excited about in the future? Any fun hobbies?
9. What are you currently reading? OR What book would you recommend to others right now? -  it doesn't have to be poetry or a collection....
10. What was the last movie or TV show you watched or recommend others see in the community?
11. What was your most recent publication or most recent publications 3-4 max?
12. Which poets, artists, or writers inspire you? 
13. If you were stuck on the moon with anyone or could pick your space flight partner who would it be —  it could be someone from the past or present time? OR You can answer: If you had the opportunity to portray any book character in the world and star in a movie adaptation of their life's story or another in a film who would you choose? Please share the character name, book title, and author of the book.
14. What's one of your favorite poems in existence? Provide 1 poem by another poet just the title and author name.
15. What is your website or share any social media handles? Do you have a Substack URL?

We will pair one or a few songs at the bottom of the spotlight. Feel free to give link suggestions or names from YouTube. No guarantees we'll use your song preferences.

Note we will also accept audio reads on our podcasts so you're welcome to upload audio to your poem stating the title and reading it following the guidelines if accepted (though completely optional). 

Please attach 300 dpi photographs. We prefer JPEGS. We often look for photos tied to our issue theme which is cats/felines currently. Anything cat-related could be paws, a sculpture in a museum, an abstract statue, etc. We sometimes use outdoor photos, vintage time traveler ones, rustic in nature, wall-building photos, graffiti alleys, etc., Ideally, we prefer photo donations be in full color, but if you have both B&W and the original submit both. Your photos should not have appeared in other publications. It's okay if your comic art was published before as long as there is no hold or agreement with another publisher on it. There are no guarantees we'll be able to incorporate your photos or comic art as it depends on submissions towards the end of the issue completion. Remember that your photos should fit a 5x8 page and 5.5x8.5 same with comic art donations. We'll typically resize photography donations so no worries. Comics must also follow our theme. Attach up to 10 photos or comic panels per submission. Do note your photos may be subject to further editing or digital collage. If selected we'll add your name credit to the issue interior for photography (see issue 4 examples). We love grungy building photos, graffiti, and nature snaps too.